NYC Arts: The Complete Guide to Art and Culture

In the 1930s ballet enthusiast Lincoln Kirstein decided to promote the idea of an American ballet company that would train its own American dancers and be on a par with celebrated European companies. He met the legendary choreographer George Balanchine in 1933 and brought him to New York to help found the company in 1948.

Balanchine's innovative, neoclassical choreography and singular vision for the ballet are at the heart of New York City Ballet. His legacy runs through the teaching methods of the School of American Ballet and through his repertory of more than 125 works. The New York City Ballet also performs works by celebrated choreographers Jerome Robbins, Peter Martins (its current director) and others.

Now half a century old, the New York City Ballet performs in the Philip Johnson-designed David H. Koch Theater, and has a season at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center each summer and at venues around the world. The company is committed to adding at least four new ballets each year in order to maintain the vitality and distinction of its repertory.

• Box Office: Mon 10 am-7:30 pm, Tues-Sat 10 am-8:30 pm, Sun 11:30 am-7:30 pm
• Disability Access: Fully accessible
• Gift Shops: Books, photos, compact discs
• On-Site Food: Concession stands on Promenade and Orchestra levels are open before performances and during intermissions; bag lunches permitted in public spaces; no food allowed in theater
• On-Site Parking: Cars: on streets or in on-site lot (enter on 62nd or 65th Street between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue); Buses: by arrangement only